Atlantic university basketball has a new champion. The Acadia Axemen climbed to the top of the mountain with an 82 – 71 victory over the top seeded St. FX X-Men Mar. 4 at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Although Acadia has not won an AUS title since 2007, this was the second straight year the team made the championship. The victory helps salve the wound of losing last year to the Tigers.
Despite winning the conference, Acadia was selected as the last seed for the CIS Final 8 held in Halifax this weekend. They will meet against the No. 1 Carleton Ravens Mar. 10 in the quarterfinals. St. FX was ranked sixth and will contest the RSEQ champion Concordia Stingers the same day.
Both teams came into the championship match streaking, Acadia having won their last seven games in a row, and St. FX topping that with a nine-game winning streak. All those who expected a close match between the clashing titans, however, were disappointed early. Acadia blew open the doors in the first quarter, sinking six three-pointers and staking themselves to a 26 – 10 lead by the end of the quarter.
Acadia continued to hold the lead for the entirety of the game, boasting a 14-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. The point spread was not due to an overly impressive defence on the Axemen’s end, but rather a lacklustre X offence.
In that final quarter, though, the X-Men showed the fight that led them to the No. 1 seed coming into these playoffs. Facing that 14-point deficit, St. FX had a 12 – 4 run, shaving the lead to six points, and seeming to have the momentum behind them with seven minutes to play. Unfortunately, the hole they dug themselves was too deep. The X-Men would come no closer than closing the gap to five with about 2:30 remaining.
Acadia danced with the girl that brought them to the game, shooting 38 per cent from behind the arc, a shade above the 37 per cent average that led the AUS this season. On the flip side, St. FX struggled from the outside, shooting 0-for-15 from three-point range.
Offence for the Axemen proved stellar, shooting over 50 per cent for most of the game. Third-year forward Owen Klassen was a dominant force in the paint for Acadia, leading his team with 20 points.. Forward Jeremy Dunn led the X-Men with 27 points, adding 10 rebounds as well. Only one other X-Men finished with double digit points, second-year guard Terry Thomas had 19 points.
Axemen third-year guard Anthony Sears was awarded Final 6 MVP honours after the game.
By Jason Savoury and Andrew Johnson, Staff Contributors
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